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Today Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock welcomed new figures showing the number of 16- to 18-year-olds not in education, employment or training is falling in all 9 regions of England, equating to thousands more young people in education, employment or training.

The 2013 figures, drawn from data collected by local authorities, show that for 16- to 18-year-olds the number of NEETs compared to the previous year fell by:

19% in London

12% in the North West

9% in the North East

9% in the East of England

7% in the South East

5% in the South West

These figures come after data published last week shows that for England in the first quarter of 2014 (January to March) compared to the same period in 2013:

there are 774,000 16- to 24-year-olds who are NEET (13.1%) - this is down 135,000 (2 percentage points) on last year, and is the lowest rate for this quarter since 2005

there are 122,000 16- to 18-year-olds NEET (6.7%) - this is down 29,000 (1.5 percentage points) on last year, and is the lowest since comparable data began in 2001

there are 652,000 19- to 24-year-olds NEET - this is down 105,000 (2.3 percentage points) on last year, and is the lowest since 2008

As part of the government’s commitment to giving young people the best start in life, local authorities are required to track their participation in education, employment and training. Today’s figures also show local authorities are becoming more effective at this, with a drop of more than 25,000 whose activity is not known to local authorities since the previous year.

This rise follows Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock writing to underperforming local authorities to encourage them to properly keep track of the levels of participation in their areas.

Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock said:

I am delighted to see even more young people in education, employment and training. This shows that introducing rigour and reform into education and training is giving young people the skills they need to enter the world of work or further education.

This further shows that our long-term economic plan is securing young people’s future. Our catalogue of reforms, including improving apprenticeships and ensuring young people must continue in education or training to age 18, is designed to give them the best possible start.

The government has a package of measures to offer those leaving school the best possible start in life. This includes:

Notes to editors

Today’s data is an estimate drawn from the participation databases maintained by local authorities. These are used to record young people’s post-16 activities as part of local authorities’ duties to encourage young people to participate in education or training.

Today’s data differs from the NEET data published on 22 May, which was based on data from the Labour Force Survey between January and March 2014. Today’s data is based on figures from the participation databases maintained by local authorities. These are used to record young people’s post-16 activities as part of local authorities’ duties to encourage young people to participate in education, employment and training.